Framingham's B.L.O.C.K.S. preschool program is in many ways the "front line" of education, says director Rosario Alvarez-O'Neil.

"We're able to figure out what we need to do with each child," she said, giving those students a critical head start once they reach grade school.

But up until now, the state's early childhood education infrastructure has been underfunded compared to the K-12 system, preschool advocates say. A $131 million package proposed by Gov. Deval Patrick would change that, although like many aspects of his controversial, tax-increasing fiscal 2014 budget, that long-awaited boost is no sure thing.

Regardless of the mood on Beacon Hill this spring, some proponents of early childhood education believe they've already turned a corner in their effort to convince people in the state of the importance of their cause.

"We've set the table, but now we need to step up to the plate," said Irene Sege, director of communications for Strategies for Children, which last year scored a major victory with the passage of a bill creating more guidance for preschool through third grade education in the state.

Many obstacles remain, chief among them the 30,000 children from low-income families on a waiting list for a state voucher to pay for their preschool. Already part of an at-risk demographic, many of those students could fall even further behind their peers without a pre-kindergarten education, further perpetuating the state's hard-to-shake achievement gap.

Another setback occurred this past week when the state's Early Education and Care Commissioner, Sherri Killins, abruptly resigned amid criticism of her role in a superintendent training program in Ware.

And then there's the reality that any proposed funding increase for preschools will ultimately be competing with other areas of the budget this spring. Patrick's ambitious spending plan, which would cause a one percent income tax increase, also calls for a $226 million boost to chapter 70 aid to K-12 districts across the state, for instance.

But Rep. Alice Peisch, chairwoman of the Joint Committee on Education, said she would lean toward funding early childhood education before another round of chapter 70 increases. Even if she may not be willing to pass Patrick's entire $131 million package, she said it's more likely that individual pieces - including portions that would pay to increase subsidized access to preschools and improve the quality of programs by better compensating teachers - could make it through the Legislature.

"I don't want to put it in terms of one (budget area) against the other," she said, but added, "I'd prefer to see (funding) designated for specific programs we know work."

Studies have shown that preschool can have a profound effect on the rest of a student's education, from decreasing their chances of being held back a grade to increasing their projected earnings later in life.

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Early childhood programs are especially critical to identifying students' learning needs before they potentially manifest into a special education referral down the road, advocates say. B.L.O.C.K.S., for example, which receives special education funding from the town's public schools and thus attracts more families with special needs children, holds frequent screenings throughout the school year, Alvarez-O'Neil said.

That important role isn't always appreciated, nor is the fact that preschool teachers need to be highly trained to deal with such a wide spectrum of children, said B.L.O.C.K.S. teacher Kim O'Leary.

"(People) will say, 'oh that's so cute - you must have so much fun all day," she said. "But this is often the first place you have a set of eyes on a student other than a family member's."

One of Alvarez-O'Neil's chief concerns is B.L.O.C.K.S. is not able to reach enough of those kids; thanks to cuts to state subsidies, the percentage of kids entering first grade in Framingham with preschool experience has dropped from 24 percent to 12 over the past six years, she said. Not being able to accept kids from poorer families who can't afford the program, which costs $6,860 for a standard five-day-a-week full-day enrollment, "is a heartbreak for us," she said, and one of the main reasons she hopes the part of Patrick's funding package that would increase subsidies is passed this year.

Alvarez-O'Neil said a provision in the governor's plan that would lift a cap on the number of pre-kindergarten students that can be counted toward districts' chapter 70 aid could also encourage more towns to try to increase preschool enrollment.

Sege said she doesn't see pre-kindergarten becoming mandatory in the state anytime soon. But lawmakers and K-12 educators are at least starting to worry more about early childhood education than they have in the past, she said.

"This conversation feels different - we feel like we're in play now," she said. "I think there's a growing realization among people that we can't keep working in silos."

Scott O'Connell can be reached at 508-626-4449 or soconnell@wickedlocal.com.